eBay Asks Sellers to Sign Petition Opposing Online Sales Tax

eBay urged sellers to sign a petition opposing internet sales tax to “protect your small business.” eBay will present the petition to President Trump, members of Congress, and state governors.

eBay Senior Vice President of eBay Americas Marketplace Scott Cutler also posted a message on the eBay Main Street blog telling members to “rest assured that eBay will continue to fight this battle on behalf of all of our valued customers.”

The Supreme Court is deliberating South Dakota v. Wayfair, a case that could overturn Quill vs. North Dakota and allow tax agencies to force merchants with no physical presence in their states to calculate, collect, and remit sales tax on transactions made to their residents.

Announcement follows:

eBay supports tax policy that is fair to entrepreneurs, artisans and small businesses and opposes efforts to impose taxes that are harmful to sellers like you, who are vital to the American economy. For all the small business sellers that use eBay there has never been a more critical time to stand against new and unfair Internet taxes.

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The U.S. Supreme Court will make a decision in the coming weeks that could give states the right to tax every small business on the Internet.

The issue is just as pressing on Capitol Hill. States, shopping center owners and giant retailers are lobbying hard to increase taxes on small business owners like you, and everyone who buys from you online. When the Supreme Court makes its decision, it will bring together the various threads on the issue of Internet sales tax.

Our leaders in Washington, DC and in state capitals across America need to know how you feel about new Internet tax burdens – burdens that could negatively impact your ability to sell online in a variety of ways. The link below takes you to a petition we plan to deliver to President Trump, key members of Congress and select state governors. Please digitally sign the petition today. It will take you less than three minutes and help us tell political leaders that you stand with us against these new taxes.

Feel free to encourage your networks to also sign the petition. Rest assured that eBay will continue to fight this battle on your behalf!

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.

What Ebay is most afraid of is the fact that if taxes must be collected, they will have to administer the program. No, small sellers will not have to write a check to Podunk County, Arkansas for 12 cents because someone bought a $4 item, and their local tax rate is 3%.

Ebay will have to charge the Podunkian the tax, and send the payment. This (God forbid) means more employees will need to be put on the payroll, which will cut into their already small profits.

It will also prevent dropship artists from charging a tax and then pocketing the money. This may cause many drop shippers to go out of business, since these profits (from collecting taxes that are never remitted to the proper authorities) are most often more than what is made on the actual “sale”.